Return of the Ace KT Cuevas

'Return of the Ace' KT Cuevas "I play the role of a clown in the team"

7 innings scoreless against Suwon SSG on the 2nd… Team won 6 in 8 games played

Coach Lee Kang-cheol (57) cites William Cuevas (32) as the number one contributor to the kt wiz team's secret to the team's performance, which fell to the bottom at the beginning of the professional baseball season and then showed a remarkable 안전놀이터 rise from June and jumped to 4th place in the league.

Cuevas, the main player in kt's first championship in 2021, left the team due to an injury at the beginning of last year's season, but returned again this year due to the sluggish performance of Bossulser wearing the kt uniform.

Coach Lee Kang-cheol says, "After Cuevas came back, the atmosphere in the team changed."

Usually, it is not easy for foreign players to play the role of 'Clubhouse Leader' due to language limitations.

However, Cuevas is contributing to boosting the team atmosphere as Lee said with his unique friendliness and sense of responsibility.

“I play the role of a clown in the team,” Cuevas said after the home game against SSG Landers at KT Wiz Park in Suwon on the 2nd.

Not "clown" in the demeaning sense, but literally focused on making fellow players laugh.

Cuevas added, "When the game doesn't work out, I think it has a positive effect thanks to the encouragement from the side and the mood."

At the beginning of the season, kt had a difficult time as key players such as So Joon So and Baek Ho Kang broke away from the lineup due to line injuries.

Cuevas helped change the atmosphere that had been weighed down since returning to the team in June.

And now, he gradually shows his ace-like dominance on the mound.

In the match against SSG on the 2nd, Cuevas led the team to a 1-0 victory against SSG with a flawless pitch with 6 hits, 5 strikeouts and no run in 7 innings.

It is his first scoreless pitch since his return.

Cuevas said, "I was not satisfied with the cutter and fastball at the beginning of the game, so I tried to pay more attention to the command (pitch). As

my pitch got better and better, I led long innings."

Cuevas is a somewhat jagged pitcher with a 3.88 earned run average, but is 4-0 in eight appearances since his return.

On the day Cuevas started, the kt record was 6 wins and 2 losses.

He said, “I think there were many games where the team won even if it wasn’t a winning pitcher because I threw my best in the game.”

KT fans cannot forget the appearance of Cuevas, who led the first championship in 2021.

In the regular season 1st place match against the Samsung Lions, he won a direct ticket to the Korean Series by playing 7 scoreless innings, and in the first game of the Korean Series with the Doosan Bears, he gave up 7 hits, 8 strikeouts and 1 run in 7⅔ innings.

Cuevas did not hide his ambition to return to the top in two years, saying, "My personal goal this year is only the Korean series. You have to set big goals to achieve great success."